The Toledo Symphony Orchestra (TSO) kicks off its first performance of 2022 with New Year, New World, a onenight only ProMedica Masterworks Series performance at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Peristyle Theater, on Saturday, January 15, at 8 p.m.
Multiple Grammy Awardwinning conductor JoAnn Falletta and world-renowned soprano Janinah Burnett will be featured.
In-person and livestreaming tickets are available and can be purchased online at toledosymphony.com, by calling 419-246-8000, or stopping by the TAPA Box Office in person at 1838 Parkwood Avenue, Toledo.
“I am thrilled to begin our 2022 concerts with JoAnn Falletta,” said Zak Vassar, TSO president and CEO.
“I have followed her career for years and can’t wait for her to take the helm of our wonderful orchestra. For this concert, Ms. Falletta is matched with a fantastic guest artist and repertoire. We last worked with Janinah Burnett in a revelatory concert at St. Martin de Porres. She will do very well in the Barber songs. Likewise, I think that the warmth and energy of Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony is a perfect way to begin the year.”
Hailed as “one of the finest conductors of her generation,” by the New York Times, she returns to Toledo for the first time since 1987.
She currently serves as music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and has conducted many of the finest orchestras in North America—including the orchestras of Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, as well as prominent orchestras in Europe, Asia, and South America. Ms. Falletta has studied under multiple conducting greats, including Leonard Bernstein, Jorge Mester, Sixten Ehrling and Semyon Bychkov.
She received her undergraduate degree from the Mannes School of Music and her masters and doctorate degrees from the Juilliard School. With a discography of more than 120 titles, she is a leading recording artist for Naxos.
Janinah Burnett, daughter of legendary jazz drummer Carl Burnett, found her musical talent and was inspired to pursue an artistic career at an early age. While studying vocal jazz music at Spelman College, she participated in a host of private events and engagements, including singing for Margaret Thatcher, several performances with the Atlanta Symphony, singing with the great Ray Charles, and at a private birthday party celebration for Oprah Winfrey at the home of Maya Angelou, to name a few.
Ms. Burnett went on to continue her musical studies at the Eastman School of Music where she received a master’s degree in vocal performance and literature. Following graduation, she has performed professionally on Broadway, the Tony Awards, the Metropolitan Opera, and more.
The program opens with TSO’s premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s Three Spirituals for Orchestra, paying tribute to the great American composer’s 80th birthday with this work that was recorded 10 years ago by JoAnn Falletta, guest conductor on the program.
Ms. Burnett will make her Peristyle debut singing Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 and the program will conclude with Dvořák Symphony from the New World, a symphonic masterpiece inspired by African American and Native American melodies.
“We have some truly delightful performances coming in the new year, and our opening concert of 2022 featuring Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony from the New World is one of them,” said Alain Trudel, TSO music director. “Together, with Adolphus Hailstork’s Three Spirituals for Orchestra and Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, this program highlights the richness of America’s musical legacy.”
